SME Fringe Benefits Provision

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to inform the reader about the distribution of fringe benefits provided
to employees by firms in 10 provinces of Vietnam. Five types of benefits are considered: Annual
leave, maternity leave, sick leave, social insurance and health insurance. We especially focus
on whether the gender of the owner has an effect on the fringe benefits provided. It appears
that women firm owners are more likely to provide employees with fringes, and this gender
effect exists primarily in non-household enterprises and is robust to the inclusion of standard
determinants of wage compensation. We dscuss these results and formulate a set ofpolicy recommendations.

Rand. J. and Tarp. F. (2007a). "Characteristics
of the Vietnamese Business Environment:
Evidence +om a SME Survey in 2005",
available at http://www.ciem.org.vn/home/en/
upload/info/attach/l184569268315_Characteristics_of_the_Vietnamese_Business_Environment._Evidence_from_SME_survey_in_2005_BSPS06.02.pdf